


ivory and onyx

by hanalea



Category: Hunter X Hunter
Genre: Alternate Universe - Classical Music, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-22
Updated: 2015-01-22
Packaged: 2018-03-08 15:46:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 586
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3214721
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hanalea/pseuds/hanalea
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He presses down on each key cautiously, afraid that if he plays the notes louder, Gon will hear how hollow each sound is.</p>
            </blockquote>





	ivory and onyx

**Author's Note:**

> the title and inspiration of this story is 100% based off the 8tracks playlist by the same name. i didn’t really have a plan when i wrote this, i just wanted to write killua playing piano and this is what came out. i might expand on this idea sometime in the near future?? i like musician aus

His fingers slither over the keys, hitting each note precisely.  _His hands look like spiders,_  Gon thinks. It is hard enough for Gon to just keep up with Killua’s movements with his eyes; he cannot imagine actually playing this. And the sound that rings out—it makes Gon’s heart hurt, like Killua’s spider hands are squeezing it tighter and tighter with each note he plays. 

Killua abruptly stops, feeling Gon’s eyes fixed on his back, and turns his head to look at him. “What?” he hums, his voice slipping through the sudden quiet.

Gon shrugs, his face beaming—he is so bright, so achingly warm—and says, “I like watching you practice. And it sounds nice.”

_Sounds nice?_ Killua thinks.  _It sounds empty—it sounds like silence._ He rolls his eyes. “Don’t you have homework to do?”

“Yeah, but I’d rather watch you practice.” He pauses. “You’re so pretty when you play, Killua.”

“You can’t even see me when I play, idiot. I’m not facing you,” he says, but Gon notices the red dusting his cheeks and the way he crosses his arms tightly.

“So? Killua is always pretty, so I know.”

_Is he trying to kill me_?

Killua quickly breaks eye contact and starts sputtering incoherently, his arms hugging his body tighter and the blush on his cheeks spreading. “Don’t you ever feel weird saying such embarrassing things?”

“No, not when it’s true.”

Killua huffs loudly and tries not to show his embarrassment at that line, too. “Just go back to your homework, idiot.”

“Will you keep playing?” Gon asks, the corners of his mouth pulling upwards.

Killua sighs. “I guess. I have to practice this piece.” Gon hums quietly and looks down at the textbooks in front of him. Killua watches him for a few moments, wondering how it is possible that he can feel Gon’s warmth all the way over here. Then, he turns back to the piano, his fingers hovering over the black and white keys. He thinks about what Gon said. “Ne, Gon…”

“Mm?” Gon’s pencil scratches against a piece of paper.

“Do I…” He sighs. “Does it really sound nice?”

The scratching stops. “Huh?”

Killua clears his throat, fighting the desire to look at Gon’s face. “When I play… Does it really sound  _nice_? It doesn’t sound, like… empty?” He is made of nothing but black notes on a page and melodies that ring silent—how can his music sound any different?

Gon is quiet.

For several moments, Killua waits—his hands still hanging there above the keys. He gulps loudly.

Gon’s mouth hangs open slightly, his tongue tasting Killua’s question. How exactly should he answer this? He normally acts on instinct when answering a question, but this one is hard. He wishes Killua would turn around, this would be so much easier if he could just see him. He wishes he could see Killua’s starry eyes, could feel those blue depths—which are like a song all on their own—petrify him and force him to blurt out the truth before Gon can even consider what he’s saying.

Finally—“It sounds like you.”

And then—“I like it.”

Killua lets those words settle in his mind. Then, without another word, he presses down on the keys and begins playing again, ignoring the fluttering feeling in his stomach and the smile shoving its way on his face. Gon picks his pencil back up and half-heartedly focuses on his homework, letting Killua’s notes pour into his ears and melt his insides.


End file.
